Customer Reviews

Subsequent Pleasures

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This CD is basically a re-release of Clan of Xymox's self-released 5 track EP from 1984 with 6 additional demos of songs from their full-length debut album. The recordings are a bit rough and less produced than their later incarnations due to the fact that the EP was recorded on a 4-track portastudio and the other demos were recorded on 8-track. However, this isn't necessarily a bad thing. The raw quality of the songs actually seems to add a sense of life and immediacy to the songs.

"Going Round", which was later re-recorded in rock/industrial form for 1997's Hidden Faces album, appears here as a wonderful dark synthpop track that, in my opionion, far outshines its later incarnation. The 3 songs that were never re-recorded are all excellent and fit seemlessly into the band's classic early catalogue.

The 6 demos that would later be re-recorded for their self-titled album are all excellent. "a day" carries all of the urgency and emotion of it's later incarnation in a somewhat more subdued mix. The production on "no words" adds a notably different melancholy atmosphere to the song that is absent in the later album version. "stranger" is a bit more straightforward here, with some excellent electronic bits that wouldn't make it into the final version. I actually the majority of these six demos better than their album counterparts.

If you're a fan of early Clan of Xymox, don't miss out on this one. It's a definite gem!

Forerunners of the darkwave movement, this classic Dutch outfit meshed the graveyard wails of the Cure / New Order/ the Sisters with low-tech synthpop before anyone knew to call it "gothic." Originally released in 1984, this was Xymox's ultra-limited first release before reaching cult status with 4AD. This reissue, complete with unreleased demos from the same period, would be just another historical document for obsessive collectors if it weren't so darn good. The demos are of particular intrest so one can hear the develloping sound later on the debut album at 4AD.

For devoted fans of Clan of Xymox the early version of Muscoviet Musquito is quite an enjoyable listen, the song was re-recorded for the 4ad Lonely is An Eyesore compilation and until this release the only other way to get a hold of this song other than the initial pressing was by purchasing a now defunct magazine called Abstract. The rest of the album (well I had forgotten about mining used records bins for this little gem many years ago)

Thank you for making this record available to the rest of us.

I'm a big fan of this band's first two albums, "Clan of Xymox" and "Medusa." But quality declined sharply when they left 4AD, and even their recent "comeback" left me flat. So I was excited when "Subsequent Pleasures" was rereleased. Finally, I thought--a disc of early songs from the (pre-)4AD era that might display some of that old Xymox atmosphere.

Disppointment set in almost immediately. There's a reason some of the early demo songs were never released or re-recorded, and the tinny-sounding rhythms seem flat-footed. As for the songs that were later re-recorded for their 4AD debut (half of which appear on "Subsequent Pleasures" in demo form), you can see how much they benefited from better production values later on.

I will say, though, that it's mildly interesting to hear these now-classics in rough form, to see where the ideas came from and what accents were added later. As a disc to sit and listen to and enjoy, however, "Subsequent Pleasures" falls short for me. I'll stick with "Clan of Xymox" and "Medusa."

This album is probably mainly for Clan of Xymox die-hards. The music was recorded on very primitive equipment and therefore some might not actually like this record for it's apparent harshness. Still if you've got spare cash and want this CD there should be nothing to stop you from it - Enjoy

Not a very exciting disc to listen to. Sounds very primitive as you might expect due to the content. I can see why they had not released this for years and years. It is one of those things where when you are an extreme fan you just have to have it. But after you get it and listen to it once, your bubble is burst and you realize it was not all that great and it would not matter if you ever listened to it again. Some good moments and nice to hear how these songs became great after some growth of the band and better production. In all I think it's mysteriousness and the fact that it was not available for so long added to the hype but once you get it you realize it was never that big of a deal to begin with.

It's the best CD of Clan of Xymox because it's unique. The others albums of the band are similar with the majority of the others dark-gothic-pop (or something like this) bands. So, this CD has an atmosphere that you'll never find again! The question of quality of the sound is, in this case, irrelevant. É o relançamento de uma raridade (há anos procuro) que nos leva de volta a um som que há muito foi abandonado pela própria banda.